Lighter & Brighter Series 04: Work Tips and Getting Things Done
This essay initially appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 8/2/21.
It’s a new month, which means it’s time for the next installment of the Lighter & Brighter series. The Lighter & Brighter Series is like a monthly book club discussion… but with small everyday shifts instead of books. If the month’s topic resonates with you, I’d love for you to share any tips or tricks you have. The submissions will be featured anonymously in an upcoming newsletter, so we can all learn from one other.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that we’ve turned the page on the calendar and are now in August. July always speeds by, but especially this summer, time seems to be flying.
As much as I love summer, I do have to admit that I get excited when I start to see the back-to-school ads and themed window displays. Even though my days of following an academic calendar are over, when Labor Day Weekend rolls around, I still find myself leaning into that fresh-start, new-school-year feeling. And this year, it’s interesting to think about how for many that fresh start in September might correspond with a return to the office (but then again, who knows…).
Personally, I don’t know what my schedule will look like in September, but as return-to-the-office conversations have started, I can’t help but wonder what the transition to new working arrangements will be like.
I’m extremely fortunate to have been able to work remotely during this time, but like many, the past 16 months have pushed me work-wise. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my working styles, and the tough (but crucial) task of setting boundaries. I’m far from perfect and have off days, weeks and months on the regular, but I do think I’ve picked up some new habits that I hope to take with me into this next iteration.
While I don’t know your circumstances (maybe you are back in an office, classroom or other facility? Maybe you’ll be fully remote moving forward?), I bet there is some strategy or practice you’ve picked up over the past year and a half, and if so, I would love to hear about it.
As I thought about this month’s topic for the Lighter & Brighter series, spotlighting tips about work felt interesting and timely. If you’re so inclined to share, I’d love for you to submit your most-relied on habit, tip or trick for getting things done here. All submissions are anonymous and will be featured in a newsletter at the end of the month (perfectly setting us up with inspiration for that fresh-start-September feeling!).
To kick us off, I’ll share the three practices I’ve heard or read about recently. They are all things I’m actively trying to adopt. I certainly don’t do these things every day, but I do strive to do them on a regular basis. When I incorporate them, I feel happier and more relaxed and work overall feels more enjoyable and manageable.
Interested? Read on for more! I hope something in the below resonates with you and I cannot wait to hear your ideas too.
Lighter & Brighter 04: Tips for Getting Things Done at Work
- Managing energy throughout the day.
- Planning in terms of weeks, not days.
- Keeping perspective in check.
Managing my energy throughout the day.
I’ve put this one first because I learned about it most recently. Via this post, I was introduced to this chart, which comes from the book The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz. The chart depicts four “emotional zones” you can be in while you’re working.
While the “Performance Zone” portion of the chart (upper right quadrant) looks like #goals, the author suggests that it’s not possible to spend all your time there (unfortunately). In fact, Schwartz’s research suggests that you probably can’t spend more than about 90-120 minutes at a time there. Once that time is up, your brain gets tired, and you might find yourself teetering over to the “Survival Zone” (upper left quadrant) or “Burnout Zone” (lower left quadrant). This made a lot of sense to me. It explains why I can start the day with gusto and be engaged and focused for a while before getting tired or unmotivated.
One of the key ideas from the book is that, while you can’t stay in the Performance Zone all day, you can control which zone you go to next. After that 90-120 minutes is up, you can consciously choose little moments of recharge to move to the “Renewal Zone” (lower right quadrant). After your focus time, stepping away from the computer and doing something mellow or peaceful for just a few minutes can be – you guessed it – renewing and help you from slipping into one of those left quadrants.
Making ourselves take a break instead of jumping into the next thing, cleaning out email or scrolling social media can feel hard to do (and almost feels backwards… won’t I lose momentum if I slow down?), but at least for me, just keeping this chart in mind and knowing that my energy and motivation will go up and down throughout the day is a big insight.
Planning in terms of weeks, not days.
This idea is one of my favorites and comes from author and time management expert Laura Vanderkam. On her website she writes, “We often think of our lives in days, but we live our lives in weeks, and looking at the whole of the week gives us a more holistic perspective on time. Any 24 hours might not be balanced, but the 168-hour week as a whole can be.”
Especially with work, it’s so easy to fall into 24-hour tunnel vision. We expect that our best selves should be able to deliver at work, be present with friends or family, and do a slew of other activities (exercise, read, etc.) in any given 24 hours. And when we (inevitability) don’t do all those things in one day, we end the day feeling unbalanced or guilty about all the things we didn’t have time for.
I’ve found that when I look at my week as a whole instead of zeroing in on each individual day, my time perception completely changes. Not only is the mindset more flexible (for example, it feels less stressful/more attainable to aim for three workouts sometime during the week than working out at the same time every day), but it also helps me from falling into the “all I have time for work” mentality. When planning my weeks, I’ll identify a few things I want to do personally for myself and with others, in addition to my priorities at work for that week. I love having this list to reference, especially on particularly busy days where work can feel all-consuming. Whenever I need to, I can glance down at my weekly list and remind myself that even though today may be heavily focused on work, there’s non-work things planned for this week too.
Another way of thinking of this? There is the same amount of time Monday to Thursday midday as Thursday midday to Sunday. As Laura writes in her book I Know How She Does It, “We have a funny tendency to think that work/life balance requires have a lot of personal time Monday through midday Thursday, but discount how much personal time (and relatively little work time) happens during midday Thursday to Sunday.” Interesting to think about!
Keeping perspective in check.
The last practice I’ve come to rely on is something I heard while listening to an episode of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead podcast.
Brené was talking about the importance of getting out of our own heads and she said that when she finds herself overthinking or bothered by something, she’ll remind herself of “5-5-5-5-5.”
She asks herself, “How will I feel about this ‘thing’ in 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months or 5 years?” Since hearing this, I’ve found myself asking this question countless times, especially at work. It can help me manage through a stressful day or project and reminds me of how many things are temporary.
So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite tip that you rely on to get things done in a more enjoyable way?
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